Dutton Teacher Residency Bill Also Repeals A Whole Subchapter

The text as introduced · 1,184 words

89R11460 PRL-D

By: Dutton
H.B. No. 2780

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the creation of the Texas Teacher Residency Partnership

Program and a residency partnership allotment under the Foundation

School Program.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding

Subchapter R to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER R. TEXAS TEACHER RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

Sec. 21.821. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Board" means the State Board for Educator

Certification.

(2) "Mentor teacher" means a classroom teacher who:

(A) meets the qualifications for assignment as a

mentor under Section 21.458; and

(B) is employed by a school district or

open-enrollment charter school participating in a partnership

program under this subchapter and paired with a partnership

resident at the district or school.

(3) "Partnership program" means a Texas Teacher

Residency Partnership Program established at a school district or

open-enrollment charter school in accordance with this subchapter.

(4) "Partnership resident" means a person enrolled in

a qualified educator preparation program participating in a

partnership program as a candidate for educator certification.

(5) "Qualified educator preparation program" means an

educator preparation program approved in accordance with rules

proposed under Section 21.823.

Sec. 21.822. ESTABLISHMENT OF PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. (a)

The commissioner shall establish the Texas Teacher Residency

Partnership Program to enable qualified educator preparation

programs to form partnerships with school districts or

open-enrollment charter schools to provide residency positions to

partnership residents at the district or school.

(b) The partnership program must be designed to:

(1) allow partnership residents to receive

field-based experience working with classroom teachers in

prekindergarten through grade 12 classrooms; and

(2) gradually increase the amount of time a

partnership resident spends engaging in instructional

responsibilities, including observation, co-teaching, and

lead-teaching responsibilities.

Sec. 21.823. QUALIFIED EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS. The

board shall propose rules specifying the requirements for board

approval of an educator preparation program as a qualified educator

preparation program for purposes of this subchapter. The rules

must require an educator preparation program to:

(1) use research-based best practices for recruiting

and admitting candidates into the educator preparation program to

participate in the partnership program;

(2) integrate curriculum, classroom practice, and

formal observation and feedback;

(3) use multiple assessments to measure a partnership

resident's progress in the partnership program; and

(4) ensure a school district or open-enrollment

charter school with which an educator preparation program partners

under this subchapter meets the requirements for participating

districts and schools under Section 21.824.

Sec. 21.824. REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING DISTRICTS AND

SCHOOLS. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school

participating in the partnership program shall:

(1) enter into a written agreement with a qualified

educator preparation program to:

(A) provide a partnership resident with at least

one school year of clinical teaching in a residency position at the

district or school in the subject area and grade level for which the

resident seeks certification; and

(B) pair the partnership resident with a mentor

teacher;

(2) use money received under Section 48.157 only to:

(A) implement the partnership program; and

(B) provide compensation to:

(i) partnership residents in residency

positions at the district or school; and

(ii) mentor teachers who are paired with

partnership residents at the district or school;

(3) pay at least 50 percent of the compensation paid to

partnership residents using money other than money received under

Section 48.157; and

(4) provide any information required by the agency

regarding the district's or school's implementation of the

partnership program.

(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may

pair a partnership resident only with a mentor teacher who agrees to

participate in that role in a partnership program at the district or

school partnership program.

(c) A partnership resident may not serve as a teacher of

record, as that term is defined by Section 21.051.

Sec. 21.825. RESIDENCY EDUCATOR CERTIFICATE. The board

shall propose rules specifying the requirements for the issuance of

a residency educator certificate to a partnership resident who has

successfully completed a qualified educator preparation program

under Section 21.823. The rules may not require the partnership

resident to pass a pedagogy examination unless the examination

tests subject-specific content appropriate for the grade and

subject area for which the partnership resident seeks

certification.

Sec. 21.826. AGENCY SUPPORT. The agency shall provide

technical assistance, planning, and support to school districts,

open-enrollment charter schools, and qualified educator

preparation programs, which must include:

(1) providing model forms and agreements a district,

school, or educator preparation program may use to comply with the

requirements of this subchapter; and

(2) support for district and school strategic staffing

and compensation models to incentivize participation in a

partnership program.

Sec. 21.827. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT CERTAIN FUNDS. The

commissioner may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations

from public and private entities to use for the purposes of this

subchapter.

Sec. 21.828. RULES. (a) The board shall propose rules

necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules under

Sections 21.823 and 21.825.

(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to

implement this subchapter.

SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 48, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 48.157 to read as follows:

Sec. 48.157. RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIP ALLOTMENT. (a) In this

section, "partnership program" and "partnership resident" have the

meanings assigned by Section 21.821.

(b) For each partnership resident employed at a district in

a residency position under Subchapter R, Chapter 21, the district

is entitled to an allotment equal to a base amount of $22,000

increased by the high needs and rural factor, as determined under

Subsection (c), to an amount not to exceed $42,000.

(c) The high needs and rural factor is determined by

multiplying $5,000 by the lesser of:

(1) the average of the point value assigned to each

student at a district campus under Sections 48.112(e) and (f); or

(2) 4.0.

(d) In addition to the funding under Subsection (b), a

district that qualifies for an allotment under this section is

entitled to an additional $2,000 for each partnership resident

employed in a residency position at the district who is a candidate

for special education certification.

(e) The Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for

the Blind and Visually Impaired are entitled to an allotment under

this section. If the commissioner determines that assigning point

values under Subsection (c) to students enrolled in the Texas

School for the Deaf or the Texas School for the Blind and Visually

Impaired is impractical, the commissioner may use the average point

value assigned for those students' home districts for purposes of

calculating the high needs and rural factor.

SECTION 3. Subchapter Q, Chapter 21, Education Code, is

repealed.

SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of

this section, this Act takes effect immediately if this Act

receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each

house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.

If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate

effect, the entirety of this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

(b) Section 48.157, Education Code, as added by this Act,

takes effect September 1, 2025.